Splitting Eucalyptus

[Gav73]

Anyone else had the joy of splitting eucalyptus? Find it hard going as the grain tends to be twisted, but the smell makes up for that and my sinuses love it!

[Stubby]

9 hours ago, Gav73 said:

Anyone else had the joy of splitting eucalyptus? Find it hard going as the grain tends to be twisted, but the smell makes up for that and my sinuses love it!

Yes . The helical  heart wood grain can be a pain if you don't have a mechanical splitter .

Edited November 16, 2020 by Stubby

[Bob_z_l]

6 hours ago, Gav73 said:

Anyone else had the joy of splitting eucalyptus? Find it hard going as the grain tends to be twisted, but the smell makes up for that and my sinuses love it!

Yes. Larger lumps split in a fashion....twisty as @Stubby says. Most of it split with the X27.

Then I cut them with the saw. Lots of noodles but made for easier stacking.

 

Seasoned it burned lovely and hot in the stove. 

 

[nepia]

Once the wood gets to any sort of size you don't so much split euc as destroy it - with a splitter anyway.

It often helps to split it tangentially instead of radially - separate the growth rings instead of trying to split from heart to bark.

[Stubby]

1 hour ago, nepia said:

Once the wood gets to any sort of size you don't so much split euc as destroy it - with a splitter anyway.

It often helps to split it tangentially instead of radially - separate the growth rings instead of trying to split from heart to bark.

Yea . its not a " pretty " product but burns a treat .

[Dan Maynard]

Had a euc which looked lovely firewood, ended up picking out the straight branches and chucking half of it away as I didn't think the effort was worth it. I don't have a very high tonnage splitter though.

[Gav73]

18 minutes ago, Dan Maynard said:

Had a euc which looked lovely firewood, ended up picking out the straight branches and chucking half of it away as I didn't think the effort was worth it. I don't have a very high tonnage splitter though.

That’s such a waste. I would never throw away any wood ? I’ve got a cube of it stacked that will be ready for next summer and another 2 cube of it which will be good for next winter. Really do love the smell of it on an outdoor fire

[woody paul]

Split when green is easier, left some for a couple of years then tried splitting it with a hy_crack splitter on a 90hp tractor and a stooled it many times. 

 

[nepia]

Don't you just hate it when your splitter stools?!  ?

[Stubby]

1 hour ago, nepia said:

Don't you just hate it when your splitter stools?!  ?

Sheet all over the place